ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

writtenbymkm-583-902097 Boy am I in the minority here! As of this review, I have watched five of the six Inner Sanctum movies (still have to view "Pillow of Death"), and I thought it was the absolute worst of the five. It seems to me that most of these movies are about what a sap, or a jerk, or an idiot, Lon Chaney's characters are. He never seems to really know what's going on, at least until it's too late, making him less than sympathetic. In "Strange Confession" I had no sympathy for him at all, especially after he lets himself be suckered into going back to work for his horrible boss, and then, on top of this, lets himself be suckered again into going to South America, leaving his long-suffering wife to the clutches of his boss. How blind can you be? Also, I hated the ending (spoiler alert, spoiler alert). I would've had his wife kill the boss in self-defense. But no, Mister Idiot has to blunder in there and kill the boss himself. Maybe they got him off with an insanity plea. Bottom line, this was not "horror" or even "mystery," just melodrama and, worse, extremely boring and depressing. In case you are wondering, I gave it two stars because I watched it to the bitter end -- I reserve one star for films I can't even finish watching. Now you can all start clicking "not helpful."

Michael_Elliott Strange Confession (1945) *** (out of 4) Fifth in the Inner Sanctum series once again features Lon Chaney, Jr.. This time around he plays a brilliant scientist who's trying to find a cure for influenza. His greedy boss (J. Carrol Naish) puts the stuff out on the market before it has been proved to cure and this leads to a tragedy. This is probably the best of the series as it mixes some Frank Capra like quiet moments with some rather mean spirited stuff towards the end. Chaney gives a very good performance and Naish lends a very strong supporting performance.

mgconlan-1 "Strange Confession" was the only Universal "Inner Sanctum" movie I had NEVER seen until the recent release of the entire series on DVD, but from the first few minutes it seemed familiar and I quickly realized why: though the opening credits list the script as based on a "composition" by Jean Bart (which made it seem like it was based on something she wrote in grade school), it was a quite obvious remake of the 1934 Universal film "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head," with Claude Rains, Joan Bennett and Lionel Atwill in the roles played here by Lon Chaney, Jr., Brenda Joyce and J. Carrol Naish. The original took place in France on the eve of the First World War and contained a pacifist message that M. Coates Webster, scenarist for the remake, unsurprisingly omitted since the U.S. was still at war when "Strange Confession" was made. Webster also changed the two antagonists from a radical newspaper editor at odds with his publisher to a scientist at odds with the owner of the pharmaceutical company he works for. Nonetheless, the two films are quite close otherwise and, though hardly as good a film as "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head" (and where is THAT one on DVD, Universal?), "Strange Confession" retains a surprising degree of the original's quality.

evilskip The movie starts off with Jeff Carter picking up a tree and Xmas gifts for his family.He'd love to have dinner with his wife and little Tommy on Xmas eve, but he has to work for his mean boss.What is this?A Christmas Carol?No.It is a boring little flick about Carter's unfinished influenza cure released prematurely by Graham, his skunk of a boss.When little Tommy dies,Carter seeks revenge.The Inner Sanctum was a popular radio mystery show.A series of Universal films starring Lon Chaney was released to capitalize on its popularity. But the only mystery is how can you sit through this boring drivel.It isn't a mystery, just a confession.You know where this is going after the first ten painful minutes. If this is on your television, change the channel!